


With All Your Colours

by foggynelson



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Art AU, F/F, F/M, M/M, artist!foggy is everything to me tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-29 02:06:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3878275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggynelson/pseuds/foggynelson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Foggy Nelson wants from his life is to appreciate and create beauty. And Matt Murdock is truly the personification of beauty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. #f9675a

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't wrote a real fic in close to a year, even longer since I wrote something chaptered. But I just really love these characters so much, so here we are.

Foggy knows the activity is childish. Foggy doesn’t care, though. It’s still a good starting activity, a good starting point to see where everyone in the class is at. And since the professor isn't in today and Foggy’s been left to teach, he’s going to do whatever he wants. And he wants to do this.

As the class starts, Foggy instructs everyone to pair up. "I'm sure you've all done this before," he states as the students shuffle around him. "You're going to take turns drawing the other person without looking down at your drawing. Doing this, each line is important. Each movement of your pencil. Plan ahead. Think of a good starting point. Don't just jump in. Each person will draw for twenty minutes and we'll switch. Then I'll collect them all, display them, and we'll see if we can guess which student each drawing is of." This last part Foggy hopes is fun and not _too_ cheesy. If it is, oh well. He's just a teacher's assistant, and he thinks it'll be good and that's what matters.

As the students start, Foggy thinks of the first time he did this back in elementary school. He even remembers the first person he did it with. He was paired with Jennifer Hessington. Foggy had the biggest crush on her at the time and given twenty minutes to just stare at her as he drew, well, Foggy was in heaven. 

Jennifer wasn't the most beautiful girl in their class. She had a small face, the features all which were squished towards the center of her face. She had dark skin and more often than not would have her hair done in small braids clipped with colourful plastic clips. Her smile, really, was what Foggy liked most about her face. It was vast when she smiled, which, thankfully, she did quite often. At the time, she had she one of her front teeth missing and that fact just made her smile sweeter to Foggy.

The activity was hard. Jennifer struggled staying still and every so often Foggy would sneak a peek down at his drawing and was always frightened by what he saw. It was a mess. A huge mess. Lines were everywhere. One of her eyes was floating off in space, whereas the other was closer to where the nose should have been (which, instead, was too far to the left). 

When they finished, Jennifer, like all the other kids who were drawn, laughed at the picture before them. And it was funny, really. Jennifer smiled at it and said, "I look ridiculous!" She laughed some more and then added, "I absolutely love it!" 

It was her turn to draw Foggy now and Foggy told himself not to look down at her paper. He wanted to be surprised by the result. And he was. She was much better at this than him. His face still looked messed up, but at least all of his features were still on his face. His top lip was atop of his nose and his eyes were about as far apart as they could be. He laughed along with the other students. He repeated Jennifer's sentiment to her, "I absolutely love it," with a wide smile. 

It was around then that Foggy realized he liked drawing. A lot. Maybe he just liked being able to stare at pretty things for long periods of time as the drew them. Maybe he liked the idea of creating pretty things himself. Whatever it was, Foggy started to draw, slowly at first, until it was almost non-stop. His parents were a little put off by how much he drew. This grew, especially when at a parent teacher conference his math teacher showed them an assignment where for the answers, Foggy drew small portraits of his classmates instead.

By that point, though, it was too late. By then Foggy was doing whatever he could to earn money to buy art supplies. He especially loved drawing with charcoal. It was harsh, unpredictable sometimes, permanent, staining almost. He loved the feel of it against his fingers. He especially loved drawing portraits. He loved capturing other's expressions, the feelings that radiated from their faces, their posture. Drawing become a part of Foggy. Foggy the artist. It was like having some kind of purpose and Foggy enjoyed it immensely.

Class is about five minutes in when someone else saunters in. Foggy's ready to scold the person for being late (sure, it's the first day, but people can still put in enough effort to be to class on time). Before he does, though, Foggy notices the glasses and the cane and remembers his professor vaguely mentioning that a blind student had signed up for one of his classes. Foggy, however, hadn't thought he was serious. Why would a blind person sign up for an art class? Foggy doesn't want to be offensive or anything, but it doesn't make any sense to him. He's not going to comment, of course. Instead he walks to the other side of the room to meet him.

He has this lightness to him that immediately captures Foggy. He can't place what it is, but there is something bright about him. He's smiling and saying something to one of the students being drawn. The girl responds and the boy laughs, his head leaning back as he does so. It's endearing.

Foggy introduces himself as he steps in next to him. He responds by saying, "I'm Matt. Sorry I'm late. I've never been to this area of campus and found myself a little lost." 

Foggy nods in response before realizing that's the stupidest thing he could have done. He then says, "I just nodded," which he then rules as the stupidest thing he could have done. Matt smiles. Foggy goes ahead and explains what all the students are doing. He's unsure how this will work with him. There won't be an issue with him looking down at his paper, but he won't be able to look at anyone to draw them either.

"...And I guess you'd have to pair with me anyway as there seems to be an odd number in class, but I'm not sure what the best way to go about this would be," Foggy finishes, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Well, if it's all right, I could touch your face. That's generally the best way for me to get an idea of what a person looks like."

"Oh, of course." Foggy feels stupid for not thinking of this himself and then feels awkward realizing he's agreed to have an exceptionally attractive man touch his face for twenty minutes. This was definitely not something Foggy would have pictured happening today. 

Foggy sets up his chair next to Matt. They're closer than the other students. It's only seconds before the other's hands are on his face. It's strange, the act taking him by surprise. Foggy is amazed by how rough his skin is, his fingers calloused as they trail down the side of his face. The touch is both light and powerful. It feels... Well. Foggy can't find the word for how it feels. It's nice, for sure, being touched, albeit a bit awkward when his fingers push up against the base of his nose. 

As he has in the past, Foggy doesn't let himself look down at the drawing. Instead he looks at Matt. He wonders what could have caused this desire to take an art class. He wonders how he became blind. He wonders what it would be like to lose his own sight - if he'd be able to handle the loss. 

"You can ask, you know," Matt says a few minutes into the exercise. "About the blindness," he continues a second later. "It's okay. Everyone does." He says this in such a light way, as if it honestly doesn't matter to him. Something he's grown used to. Just another part of his day.

"It's fine," Foggy replies. "You're just a guy, right?" he says. Then before he realizes he's even thought the words, he adds, "A really, really good looking guy." Matt's hands stop moving at this and Foggy's face gets red. Way to go, Foggy. Hit on some blind student while his hands are all over your face. Way to go.

Matt doesn't say anything, but smiles slightly. Foggy smiles back and starts to calm down. It wasn't that weird of a comment anyway. Foggy's an artist and as such, he's constantly noticing beautiful things. Matt just happens to be one of those. Foggy tells himself this is all it is and forces his mind to change it’s thought process. He instead looks around the room (as much as he can with Matt’s left hand on his face) at the students in the class. A few are chatting, but there are some that are silent and seem to be so engrossed in the activity. Foggy can’t wait to see everyone’s finished portraits.

Soon, Foggy announces to most of the class that it’s time to switch. Matt let’s go of his face and Foggy walks around the room and collects the finished drawings. He tries to mix them up as they go. When he’s back at Matt, he sits down again and says, “Since you came in late, you can have a little more time.” Matt smiles and says “thanks” and it makes Foggy smile as well because, wow, does this boy have a beautiful smile.

Matt reaches out again and grabs Foggy’s face, this time his fingers tracing around the top of his head, and soon Matt is running his fingers through Foggy’s hair and he has to remind himself that this a school activity and nothing sexual at all. (But no matter how hard he tries, Foggy can’t help but think about how good it feels, Matt’s fingers rough but gentle.) 

Eventually Foggy reaches a point where he doesn’t think he can handle Matt’s hands on his face anymore and he announces it’s his turn to draw him now. Foggy has to get up and grab his own sketch pad and when he comes back, he finds that Matt has removed his sunglasses. His eyes are sharp but soft and the way they look in his direction feels as if he can actually see him. 

Foggy sits down and immediately starts to draw. Despite talking to his students about planning out what they’re going to do, Foggy does not. He’s too excited to stop himself. He starts on Matt’s eyes, hoping he can find a way to convey this feeling emanating from them. Foggy doesn’t mean to, but he spends about ten minutes just drawing the first eye. He knows there were a few slip ups and a few aspects are probably gonna look weird, but overall, he’s excited to see the result. Of course, since he started later, he only has about five minutes to draw the rest of Matt’s face.

The rest is very lackluster, small, soft lines making a very vague outline. Foggy’s heart is only half in it. He’s sure that everything is going to be misplaced, eyes in space, mouths where noses should be, but Foggy’s okay with it. Because, ultimately, he’s just happy to sit here and draw and look at something beautiful. This is all Foggy’s ever wanted, truly.

Foggy calls time a minute later and starting with his own, begins to pick up the rest of the drawings. Again, he shuffles them about with the others and once he has them all, he goes and lays them out in the front of the class. He loves seeing them. None are perfect, of course. Everyone has features that are ill placed and lines that don’t really fit anywhere. But Foggy can see a lot of potential. One drawing contains the most beautiful drawing of a nose Foggy has ever seen and another has a smile that, while overall messy, conveys so much joy that Foggy stops and stares at it a few moments before laying it down.

Matt’s is the last one he lays out. Foggy is surprised. It’s different from everyone else’s. Matt has no eyes in space and each line is purposeful and well placed. It’s not a great drawing artistically. Everything is very flat, very simple. He definitely did the best at placement, though, and Foggy is very impressed.

The class talks amongst themselves. “Is that supposed to be me?” “Wow Karen look at how big your nose is!” “I have hair growing out of my eyeball!” Foggy chuckles as he listens. He walks over to Matt and says, “Sorry you can’t see any of these.”

“Nothing you should be sorry for.” Matt flashes a smile and Foggy replies with one as well, before remembering that he can’t see his smile. He can’t see Foggy’s happiness in response to his own. That’s one thing Foggy is sure he would really miss if he became blind. 

“Here’s the one I did of you, though,” Foggy says, handing over the drawing. “Not sure if you want to keep it or anything. It’s totally cool if you don’t if it’s, like, stupid or something to give it to you or whatever.”

Matt reaches out and grabs the paper for Foggy’s hands. He begins to run his fingers around the page, his fingers spending more time when they reach where Foggy has drawn. His fingers trace around the eye Foggy drew, tracing over and over. “It seems lovely,” Matt says, lifting his fingers from the page. “But please tell me my right eye isn’t actually three times larger than my left.”

 

Class finishes with Foggy handing out the syllabus and announcing that the professor will actually be in class come Thursday. The student all rush out with two exceptions: Matt, who waits until everyone else has left before making his way out, and Karen, who waits for Foggy to clean up. 

“I can’t believe you made me take this class, Foggy,” she muses, folding an easel up. “You know I am the worst artist ever. You did see how I bad my drawing of Claire was, right? The blind kid’s was even better than mine!” She pouts and says, “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I know,” Foggy says with a laugh. “You tell me that all the time.”

“Well it’s true. Anyway, I’m starving so you better hurry up before I ditch you.”

“You can’t ditch me, Karen! You’re my only friend!” Foggy clutches his heart and looks off into the distance. Karen hits him lightly before grabbing another easel. 

“I’m serious, though. Hurry up. I won’t ditch you, but you know I’m more than happy to spend the whole time complaining.” Foggy just nods and goes as fast he can. Karen continues to talk about how she’s not at all excited about taking the class and Foggy is going to owe her big time. Which Foggy already does, of course. He is really grateful to have Karen there, though. It’s nice to have some support.

They finish up and head out. Karen wants to go for sushi and Foggy would much rather go to their regular hamburger spot, but Karen pulls the “you owe me” card and Foggy gives in. Foggy likes sushi as long as he doesn’t think on the fact that the fish is uncooked. (He does generally order sushi with cooked fish when he can, but Karen is always trying to get him to have some of her sashimi.)

The place is just around the corner and when they enter, the owner notices Karen and comes over and gives her a hug. “My favourite customer!” he bellows. “And you brought with you my most picky customer!” He smiles at Foggy and he smiles back, unsure if he should be flattered that they remember him or upset over it. He’s only been there two other times with Karen and, granted, both times he reminded them about ten times that he didn’t want any raw fish in his order. 

The owner motions for them to sit down at the bar. There are only two seats left. Karen bounds over and sits in the one closest to the chef, starting to chat with him about what he recommends today. Foggy sits down in the other seat. He looks at the menu in front of him, but knows he’ll have the chef make him anything without raw fish. 

“Foggy?” Foggy is surprised by the voice. It’s not Karen’s and he’s pretty sure that while the owner remembers him, there’s way he knows his name. Foggy turns towards the sound of the voice and sees Matt sitting next to him. 

“How did you know it was me?” are the first words out of Foggy’s mouth. He feels stupid. A hello would have been a better response. Hello, how are you, something a little less invasive than “Hey, you can’t see, so how in the world did you know it was me next to you, huh????”

But Matt chuckles and Foggy smiles. “Your cologne, which isn’t as creepy as it sounds.”

“I don’t know, Matt; it sounds pretty creepy to me,” Foggy says, with a chuckle of his own. “Mostly because I don’t even remember putting cologne on this morning, but that’s probably just because I can’t remember anything.”

“Hey Foggy is there anything specific you want me to order?” Karen says, turning around to look at her friend. “Oh,” she says when she notices Matt. “I didn’t realize you were talking to someone, sorry; didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s all right,” Matt says, flashing a smile (which is straight up painful for Foggy at this point ( _why do I have to have such a weakness for smiles?_ he thinks bitterly as he stares at the boy’s)). “I’m Matt, by the way.” He puts a hand out in Karen’s direction, which she takes.

“You’re in Foggy’s art class, right?” she says. 

“Yeah. It’s not hard to remember the blind kid in the art class, is it?”

“Oh no I didn’t mean to...” Karen starts but Matt is laughing and Karen stops and smiles. “For the record,” she adds a moment later, “I do have a really memory for faces. Just ask Foggy. I met him for the first time five years ago on a school trip. Two years later we’re in a college class together and I remembered meeting him before. I’m pretty spectacular.”

Foggy turns to face Karen, his head tilted. “You called me hot dog guy. You only remember me because I tripped and landed on a plate of hot dogs.”

“Still, I remembered you, so it counts!” Karen protests. It’s silent for a second before Matt bursts out laughing. He leans his head back, his laugh loud in the quiet room. 

Karen turns her attention to Matt and says, “It was hilarious! There were a bunch of groups from across the US for this debate competition and we’re all in this big room eating. So Foggy is bringing a huge tray of hot dogs over to his teammates and some jerk - whose face I remember perfectly, Foggy - trips him and I swear, everything was slow motion as he just falls to the ground, his face landing on the tray, covering him in mustard.” There’s laughter in Karen’s voice as she speaks. “And of course, being the hero I am, I went over and helped him. Honestly, though, the whole thing was _fantastic_. You should have seen it!” 

It’s quiet for a second and then the realization of what Karen said hit her. “Oh. Oh! I am so sorry, Matt. I didn’t mean… I wasn’t trying to…” Karen mutters before Matt cuts her off.

“It’s okay, Karen. Really. I’m just a guy.” Then, his voice small, he adds, “A really, really good looking guy.” Foggy’s not totally sure if he heard Matt correctly, but his mind doesn’t care. His cheeks grow red and his heart beats a bit faster. It only gets worse when Foggy notices a smile at the corner of Matt’s mouth. 

“Thanks,” Karen says with a smile. “Do you come here often?” 

“No, actually,” Matt replies. “This is my first time. This probably sounds a little weird, but sometimes when I’m hungry, I just kind of wander around until I find something that smells good.”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous?” Foggy asks.

“Not any more dangerous than you going to a restaurant you’ve never tried before,” Matt replies. “Well,” he adds a second later, “except for that one time I walked into a person’s house thinking it was a restaurant. They were really nice about it, though. Actually had me stay for dinner. So I guess that wasn’t dangerous either.”

“So where are you from, Matt?” Karen asks after she finishes ordering (sake and chutoro for her, california roll, spider roll, and candy roll for Foggy, as well as anago to share). 

“Hell’s Kitchen,” he replies.

As Foggy is about to reply, Karen says, “Foggy’s from there, too!”

Foggy turns to face Karen and says, “Yes, I am. Thank you, Karen,” annoyance in his voice.

“Sorry!” Karen mouths at Foggy who just shrugs.

“Wait,” Foggy says, turning back in Matt’s direction, “you’re not Matt Murdock, are you?”

“That’s me.”

“Oh dude, that’s so cool!” He turns his head in the direction of Karen and says, “Matt totally saved this old man’s life! That’s how he got blind. You must have been like, what, nine when that happened, Matt? I mean, how mental is that!” 

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Matt says with a smile. “It’s what anyone would have done.”

“Not true. Even if it was, it doesn’t diminish how cool it is that you did. I remember hearing about you. My parents talked about it _non-stop_. ‘Why don’t you go and save old people, Foggy?’ As if old people are just constantly almost being hit by cars.”

“Next time I almost save an old person, I’ll be sure to call you up, Foggy, so you can save them instead.”

“Thank you! Now this is what I call a true friend. Unlike some people who only ever force me to eat raw fish and constantly complain about cute straight girls ruining their lives!”

“If that’s a veiled criticism about me, I won’t hear it and I won’t respond to it.”

“Oh right, yes, who also quotes _Arrested Development_ far too much,” Foggy adds. “And as I was saying before I went off about Karen being a bad friend is this: what you did was really cool, Matt. It’s honestly kind of an honor to meet you. I’m gonna call my parents and tell them ‘Remember Matt Murdock? The blind guy? Yeah, well he touched my face today so who’s your favourite kid now?’ I think It’ll go over well.”

Matt laughs. “If it helps any, you’re welcome to tell them I say hello.”

“Yes! That’ll be great! Thank you,” Foggy replies. As he says this, his and Karen’s food is placed out in front of them. Karen takes a moment to explain what it is he has. Foggy nods along, but doesn’t really pay attention. He doesn’t care what anything is called, as long as the fish is cooked and he can add far too much wasabi, he’s happy.

Foggy slathers each piece with excess wasabi before dunking them into the soy sauce. It’s fantastic. He eats significantly faster than Karen, who takes each bite slowly with a smile.

“What are you reading?” Karen asks a bit later, nodding her head over in Matt’s direction. Foggy turns to face Matt as he lifts his head up towards the sound of Karen’s voice.

“It’s an LSAT test prep book. Very tedious and they only have a few older volumes in braille. There are some audio books on the subject, but I still prefer reading to audio books. But this book is not helping at all when it comes to sufficient and necessary clauses.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Karen replies. “The sufficient and necessary. I know what the LSAT is and I know what braille is, too, of course. I’m guessing this means you want to become a lawyer?”

“Yeah,” Matt responds. “My dad wanted me to do something with my life so hopefully this will suffice. What about you guys? What are you studying? What do you want to do?”

“This is probably really surprising,” Foggy says, “but I’m going into art. I’ve always just wanted to make art and sell it, but a few professors of mine are trying to get me to go more commercial since it’s easier to make money that way. But that’s not really what I want, you know? Like, I know I need money, but art to me is more than a means to a paycheck.”

It’s quiet for a moment before Karen says, “And you accuse me of being cheesy! The whole tortured artist is so three years ago, Foggy,” she adds with a laugh. “It’s all about the tortured accountants, man. We are the broken ones, making decent money, living the middle class dream. It’s a hard life.” 

“You’re just upset that I’m making you take my art class.”

“I am! Even the blind guy did a better job than me! No offense, Matt,” she adds, feeling bad. “Not that you can’t be good because you’re blind; I’m just mad at Foggy and at my hands for not drawing pretty things the way I want them to!”

“So are you saying that Claire is pretty?” Foggy asks. “I knew you liked her! You were basically drooling the whole time you were drawing.”

Karen sighs. “Her eyes are so brown, Foggy. If she doesn’t like girls, I’ll probably cry for two days. Why don’t straight people wear signs so I can know to stay away from them? I deserve a life free from straight kids.”

“I can try and do some recon, ask some other art kids if anyone know’s what her situation is,” Foggy replies with a sigh. “But! Only if you stop complaining about being in my art class. It would be nice to actually have your support for once.”

“For twice,” Karen retorts, pointing her chopsticks in his direction. “I was great support when you landed on that tray of hot dogs. Literally since you had twisted your ankle some and figuratively since you also cried for, like, two hours.”

“Wow Karen, way to make me seem super cool in front of my new friend Matt Murdock. No doubt he’s sitting here thinking, ‘I’m so glad I signed up for that art class so I could meet these crazy weirdos who won’t let me learn that just because A is only B doesn’t mean B is only A.”

“What was that last part?” Matt questions. “Do you know about sufficient and necessary clauses?” 

“Oh no, not even close. Remember how Karen said we were in debate? Well, my partner at the time was so determined to get into law school that she prepped for the LSAT all through high school and sometimes wouldn’t stop talking about it. And by sometimes, I mean all the time. She would talk in her sleep and mumble things about it. Some of the stuff just stuck with me, I guess. I don’t really get any of it, but when you hear things a thousand times, it’s not hard to repeat it back.”

“Oh, okay. I wish you did. I really need someone to study with, but everyone else that’s pre law is too worried about themselves and they think I’ll go too slow and bring them down. Future lawyers can be just as terrible as real lawyers, who would have known.”

“And that’s why you’re going into law, isn’t it?” Foggy asks, smiling. “So you can get away with being mean to everyone around you.”

Matt laughs and then smiles (and no, Foggy’s heart doesn’t skip a beat, it just speeds up slightly as he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath). “You already know me so well, Foggy. My goal in life is to destroy the whole world, one court case at a time.”

“Do you know what kind of law you want to go into?” Karen queries. 

“Probably criminal. Defend the innocent and all that.”

“You have such a hero complex, Matt Murdock,” Foggy replies. It’s endearing, he thinks to himself, grateful he managed to only think the words instead of blurting those out as well. It really is, though. Everything about Matt is endearing to Foggy and he doesn’t know how he’s supposed to make it through the semester if every time Matt smiles Foggy worries his heart is going to run out of his chest.

“Well I think it’s great,” Karen says. “We can always use more heroes out there. Not everyone can be saved by Captain America. Or Captain Marvel.” Karen looks off in the distance and says, “What I wouldn’t give to be saved by Captain Marvel.”

“You have a problem,” Foggy replies.

Karen looks down at her best friend and grabs hold of his arms. She shakes him back and forth and says, “Yes I do and it’s called straight girls!” She sighs. “Okay. I’m done. I’m calm.” She takes a deep breath. “I’m going to finish the rest of my sashimi in peace and then we’re going to your dorm so I can take a nap.”

“You could always sleep in your own dorm,” Foggy proposes.

Karen, inches away from putting food in her mouth, turns to Foggy, replies, “I said I’m going to finish in peace,” and then makes a big show of putting the fish her mouth and smiling at Foggy as she chews.

A minute later, Matt’s phone calls out the time and Matt, shakes his head, saying, “Shit,” as he slaps his book closed. “I need to head off. Totally lost track of time and my next class is in fifteen minutes. It was really nice chatting with you both. It was great to meet you, Karen.”

“Do you need any help? I could walk with you to your next class or?” Foggy offers.

“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. The building isn’t too far from here, just right next to the art wing, actually. Plus the professor for this class loves me and won’t care if I’m late. Thank you, though. I had a good time,” Matt talks as he walks backwards towards the door.

“Yeah, I really did, too,” Foggy says, but his voice is small and he’s sure there’s no way Matt could hear it, but the other boy smiles afterwards. Wide and beautiful and inviting and Foggy isn’t sure if he wants to punch the smile off his face or kiss it off but either way, he can’t stand how weak Matt makes him.

Foggy sighs as he turns back towards the bar. He’s ate all of his food and, at this point, is just waiting on Karen. He turns to look at her and she’s staring back at him. “What? Was my sigh too loud for you to eat in peace?”

“You _love_ him,” Karen replies, her own wide smile spreading across her face. “Foggy Nelson loves Matt Murdock.”

“What? Me? Love? Matt? What are you talking about…? We just met? And, like, sure he touched my face and that was really pretty intimate and, sure, he’s super attractive and really nice and super smart and maybe every time he smiles I feel like I may pass out... but? No way. I do not love Matt Murdock. I may have a really big crush on him that needs to be dealt with, but I am not in love.”

“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

“Really, Karen? First _Arrested Development_ and now Shakespeare?”

“I’m just calling it how it is.”

“Fine, if I’m in love with Matt, you’re in love with Claire,” Foggy retorts, smiling smugly.

“No? It’s completely different? Sure I was drooling over Claire and she has this small smile when she draws and her hair kept falling in her face and, sure, I had to stop myself from reaching over and brushing it behind her ear, but it’s not the same. Maybe I just really want to protect her face from her hair, huh? Ever thought of that?”

Foggy grins. “Now who is the lady who’s protesting too much, huh?”

Karen sighs. “Okay fine we both probably just have really ridiculously deep crushes. Which, lucky for me, I am very mature when it comes to this kind of thing so I have nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah,” Foggy agrees, stifling a laugh. “You are the most mature when it comes to relationships. I mean, when Kirsten broke up with you, you only planned on burning her apartment down, but didn’t actually do it.”

“Yes! Thank you! I didn’t do it, exactly. Very mature, I am,” Karen replies, smiling small. “Anyway,” Karen says, her voice soft, “we should probably head out since it seems that half of the restaurant is staring at us now.”

“Right yes. I’ll pay and you get us next time, okay?” Karen smiles and nods in reply. Foggy goes up to pay. Finished, he meets Karen at the door and they head out. 

“So my place?” Foggy questions. Karen nods. “One of these days you’re gonna have to learn how to sleep in your place.”

“Yes, but not today. Plus you have a class in, like, an hour so I will nap until you come back and then force you to go the library to work on your English class because you are not going to fail English again.”

“It’s so stupid! I want to make art, not read books and write papers about things I don’t care about.”

“I know, I know,” Karen says, patting him on the shoulder. “If you do your assignment, though I have some cheesecake for you!”

“Cheesecake?” 

“Yep. My sister packed some with me before I came back.”

“And you’re just telling me now?” Foggy replies, feigning anger. “And I thought we were friends.” Foggy smiles, sighing, and looks off into the distance. “Your sister really does make the best cheesecake.”

“She knows and that’s why she made a whole one special for you.” Foggy’s eyes grow wide. “But!” Karen continues, “you can only have it after you study. If we do not graduate together I’ll probably just end up forgetting all about you and I know you don’t want that.”

“More like you don’t want that. I’ll be a famous artist and you’re going to be just an accountant.”

“Just an accountant? Why don’t you say that to my face, Foggy?”

Foggy looks at her, eyebrows furled. “I did say that to your face. You’re right next to me. And you know I’m just fucking with you. You’re going to be a great accountant for me and take care of all my piles of money.”

“That is if you don’t end up as a starving artist,” Karen points out.

“Yes, and in that case, I will draw you cute pictures to make up for you supporting me financially.”

“We have such a dysfunctional relationship,” Karen jokes. Foggy laughs and nods. They really do. But it’s nice, he thinks. They work together so well. Just the right amount of dysfunction to keep things interesting, but not enough that it stops them from really being there to help the other.

They arrive at Foggy’s building and then walk up the five flights of stairs to his room. Karen tells Foggy about audit class she had this morning before his and Foggy does his best to follow along (thankfully Karen understands that whenever she starts to talk accounting, only about half of it will reach Foggy’s brain). 

“What class is that you have next?” Karen asks as Foggy fumbles to find his key in his bag.

“Um,” he replies, dragging the ‘m’ along as he opens the door. “Digital painting, I think.”

“Okay, well you have fun,” Karen replies, drifting over to Foggy’s bed. She plops down on it. “I’ll see you in, like, two years, okay?” Foggy looks over to reply, but Karen’s eyes are already closed and Foggy knows it won’t be long until she’s asleep, so he leaves her be.

Foggy grabs out a clean shirt since the one he’s wearing has charcoal all around the base of the sleeves. He tries to be quiet and he tries to not think - about anything at all, but especially not about Matt Murdock. But, of course, his trying only leads him to think about Matt. 

The whole thing has been so surreal. Starting from having this extremely attractive man touch his face to finding out he’s Matt Murdock, to actually getting to know him and finding out he’s really cool and down to earth and nice and… Foggy rolls his head around in circles. Foggy tells himself to take deep breaths because, really, Matt Murdock is just a normal person and there’s no reason for Foggy to get so caught up in him.

But even as he thinks this, Foggy remembers Matt’s smile and is lost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank [rachie](http://somepeoplearejustborntobequeen.tumblr.com) and [misha](http://melindamayzing.tumblr.com/) for reading over this and helping me with it all around. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon. Also, if there are any characters within the Daredevil universe (or Marvel in general) that you would like to see, let me know!


	2. #d7eefb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been years since I the previous chapter. I hope, in some way, this was worth the wait.

There is a cold breeze that takes Karen by surprise, the wind ruffling her hair, lifting her dress higher than is decent. It’s nice, though, the air, the freshness, this light feeling that comes along with it, something she’s in sore need of. Of course, it’s her own fault that she’s awake at three in the morning, walking around campus. Her keys are clasped tightly in one hand, a can of mace in the other. 

It’s probably counterproductive, really, for Karen to walk around late at night to feel safe. But she doesn’t feel safe at her place. She doesn’t always walk around late at night. Most nights she sleeps at Foggy’s. His bed is small and the two barely fit, but she feels safe and warm and cared for and it’s the definition of nice.

But there are nights like this where Karen just can’t sleep. It’s simply impossible. And Karen can’t stay awake at Foggy’s, keeping him and his roommate awake as well. She can’t go home. Depending on the night, Karen will go to a few bars (there’s a great lesbian one about twenty minutes away that’s her general go to) or stay in the library on campus as late as she can or go to a twenty-four hour diner. But some nights… some nights the thought of being around another person scares Karen so much that she wanders instead, lost, but safe.

She takes a seat on a nearby bench and pulls out her phone and sends a text to Foggy. He requires that she send him a text every hour or so, that way he knows if she’s all right. (Granted, he normally is asleep and doesn’t see the messages until the morning, but this practice helps them both feel more safe with the situation.) She checks her facebook (someone from her hometown in engaged, her best friend in third grade cut her hair, her sister made two wedding cakes this weekend (both of which were amazing and Karen is sad that she missed being there to help (and by help Karen means take bites of the batter as she’s mixing and play with the plastic people going atop the cake))). 

Karen continues to browse, takes a quiz to find out which disney princess she is (Mulan, which was a little surprising but quite flattering), watches a cute video someone uploaded of their cat. It’s a waste of time, really, and Karen would much rather be sleeping. Honestly, there’s very little that Karen can think she wouldn’t prefer to this.

She thinks of making her way back to Foggy’s and trying to sleep. She could sure use it. This is her second night in a row without more than an hour of sleep. Karen could really use the sleep, but something in her tells her it will be a waste of time (the something is generally correct when it comes to this). Plus, the sun will rise in a couple of hours and that she quite enjoys. (Sometimes she’ll wake up Foggy and make him watch it with her, the addition of him making the beauty even greater.)

Karen gets back up and continues her walk. She wishes the campus were prettier. Not that the architecture isn’t (it is) but there’s very, very little greenery. The lack of such causes her to miss home more than she’d like to. Granted, that’s New York for you. She loves it, really, and it’s been an adventure completely being here, but parts of her wonder if she’s too little for a place so big. Its something she’s not expressed to anyone else. She knows Foggy would completely disagree, telling her she’s a perfect fit and she has nothing to worry about. In contrast, she has a feeling her sister would say she’s right, that she’s never going to fit just right when it comes to the city (possibly the whole state). 

She doesn’t walk for much longer before she stops again, pulling out her phone. She looks through her contacts - so many numbers she hasn’t touched in ages, names she can’t quite fit to a face. Her only familial contact number is her sister and while she loves her, truly, they almost never talk when they’re apart. It’s just how they work. She finished flashing through and the only person she really talks to is Foggy. She has barely talked to Kirsten since their breakup and there are a few numbers of people within her major that she’ll contact about school but… Karen really doesn’t have roots here anymore.

Which certainly is sad, but Karen doesn’t allow herself to be a sad person. She gathers all the negative feelings she has, bundles them up, and shoves them deep inside to a place she can’t even reach. And this works. It keeps her up at night, but it lets her survive. That’s what she needs now. To survive.

Karen gets up again, sliding her phone back into the pocket of her hoodie. She makes her way over to Foggy’s dorm, determined to lie down for at least an hour. If she can sleep, great, if not she’ll force Foggy to get up and go watch the sunrise with her. Either option sounds good to her, honestly.

She’s on the other side of campus, so it takes time for her to reach the dorms (and she purposefully walks a bit slower, enjoying the breeze (as long as it doesn’t blow up her dress anymore)). The stars are few, but they shine bright. The moon is just a sliver, but it also gleams. Karen does she best to walk under the lights, clutching tight to her keys and mace. 

And… she’s made it. Karen sighs, stepping inside, grateful to be there. The building is very dimly lit and the warmth of the lights makes her sleepy. She climbs the stairs as quickly as she can and slips into Foggy’s room. She lies down next to Foggy, who wraps his arms around her.

“You okay?” Foggy asks.

Karen nods, not yet ready to speak. She closes her eyes and wills herself to sleep. And she does. Karen sleeps for a small bit, her body aching and tired and grateful to rest. It doesn’t last long, maybe just over an hour, but Karen awakes to the sound of Foggy’s roommate getting dressed. Karen looks over, glaring, and Mark just shrugs. Karen exhales, rolling back over to face Foggy.

“You wanna try and catch the sunrise?” she asks. She’s not sure if Foggy is even awake. His eyes are closed and his breathing slow. But he nods and Karen smiles. “Awesome. We need to get up, like, now if we want to actually see it. Unlike last time where you took forever to get ready and the sun was already midway in the sky.”

Foggy groans in response. Karen smiles. This is her favourite time of day - when Foggy is too tired to snark. It is truly a beautiful time. Karen throws a shirt and some pants over at Foggy. “C’mon,” she barks at him. “I want to see the sun!”

“For someone so tired…” Foggy starts, yawns, and then continues, “you sure do have a lot of energy.” 

“Yes, yes, I know. Everything about me is completely astonishing. Now put your pants on before I go do it for you!” 

As he dresses, Foggy maintains eye contact with Karen, glaring. Karen smiles sweetly in return. Once dressed, the two make their way outside. The sun is up just a little, just peeking up as they step outside. “I’m thirsty,” Karen whines. “Why did I not think about that while I was up in your dorm?”

“Do you want me to run and get you something?” Foggy asks. Karen thinks for a minute and then shakes her head.

“Nah, the sun will finish rising soon enough and then we can go get coffee?”

“Your treat,” Foggy adds.

“Fine, my treat.” Karen smiles and reaches her hand out. Foggy grabs hold and they walk. There is something so safe about Foggy. It’s odd, this safeness she feels. She’s never felt it with anyone else - especially with a guy. She’s felt closeness to her girlfriends, but not this level of safe. Foggy feels like the way Karen supposes family is supposed to feel - safe and warm and light and beautiful. 

There are times when Foggy looks at Karen as if she is the most wonderful thing in the world. He’s said those words to her before, too, but something about the way he looks at her means so much. Karen wishes she could convey that same amount of love right back at him, but it’s hard. Love is hard for her. Not impossible, as she loves Foggy very much and she does her best to show it. But she also knows Foggy deserves more than she can give him.

They make their way over to a small hill. It’s close to Foggy’s dorms and is high enough up that the view there is nearly unobstructed. About half way up, Foggy spots Claire running along the pathway. Her face is down, gazing at her feet as she runs. Her hair is tied up, but some still falls in front of her face and once again Karen wants to reach out and touch it.

“Let’s see if she wants to watch the sunrise with us!” Foggy says, smirking slightly at Karen. 

“Let’s not. She probably wants to enjoy her run,” Karen replies with her own smirk.

“We’ll let’s just see then!” Foggy pulls her and the two jog slightly to reach Claire. “Hey Claire,” Foggy says when they reach her.

“Oh hey Foggy, Karen.” She smiles. “You two out for a run?” she questions, looking the two up and down. It’s probably obvious they’re not out for a run - Karen is in flip-flops and Foggy shoeless. 

“No, we’re actually gonna go watch the sunrise. Any chance you want to join us? I tend to make a lot of stupid jokes and Karen punches me when I do and the sky is really pretty, too, so it ends up being a pretty good adventure all around.”

“Um,” Claire starts. Karen isn’t sure what she wants the other to say. Yes, because she wants to spend time with her, wants to know more about her, wants to learn everything there is to know. And no, because she’s scared to talk about herself, scared to make stupid mistakes and make a fool of herself. She’s tired and consequently a little disoriented which is normally not a good setup for a first encounter. 

“Sure, why not? Granted, I probably should finish my run, but a day off won’t kill me.” 

“Awesome,” Foggy replies, nudging Karen slightly. She smiles, still not totally sure how she feels. Her mind keeps jumping between "yay!" and "nooooo." “We’re just going right over there,” Foggy says, pointing over at the hill not far off. “And you’re welcome to run, but the little jogging thing we just did is enough for me.”

Claire chuckles. “What about you, Karen? Any chance you’d like to race?” Karen takes a second before she nods and then bolts off, running as fast as she can - which is pretty fast. On top of debate, Karen did track in high school. She wasn’t the fastest on the team, but she more often than not placed at tournaments and that was good enough (well, good enough for her even if it wasn't for some people).

It’s a short run and with her few second start, Karen should have no problem beating Claire. She glances behind and sees Claire just a bit behind, smiling as she runs. But before Karen can turn and face front again, her foot hits something and she’s falling. The ground isn’t too hard on her when she lands, but her breath is gone for a second and her hands sting from the impact.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Claire asks, leaning down, reaching her hand out to Karen. Karen takes it, words failing her as she looks up at Claire, concern on her face. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Karen says once she’s standing. She lets go of Claire’s hand (which was really nice, by the way, soft and Karen wishes she could have kept holding on) and brushes the grass and dirt off her. 

Foggy arrives a second later, laughing. “God, Karen, that was _beautiful_. I have truly never seen anything more magnificent.”

“Oh ha ha! At least I didn’t land on a tray of hot dogs!” Karen retorts.

“Tray of hot dogs?” Claire questions. “There’s got to be a story there.”

“There sure is,” Karen replies. She smiles and proceeds to tell Claire the story of Foggy landing on the tray of hot dogs. They finish making their way to the top of the hill as she talks and they sit down as she finishes. 

“It’s no wonder you guys are so close,” Claire says, laughing. “Your love of falling on your faces brought you together. I think that’s really beautiful.”

“Well, why else do you think someone as gorgeous as me would hang out with a loser like Karen? There had to be something that brought us together,” Foggy replies, looking over at Karen, smiling wide.

“Yes, yes, I am truly blessed to have Foggy Nelson in my life. Where would I be without him!” Karen speaks, her voice over dramatic, full of sarcasm. Of course, Karen does mean the words. She would be a mess without Foggy - well, more of a mess than she already is (and she’s a pretty big mess). 

“Wow Karen, I didn’t realize you cared so much!” Foggy reaches over, putting his arm around her and pulling her tight against him. 

Claire smiles as she looks at the two, but her smile drops when Karen winces slightly, looking down at her hands. “Ugh, there’s like a rock or something that’s digging into my skin. I can’t totally tell, though, with the sun so low in the sky. Come up, sun! Let me see!”  
“Want me to check it out? Not that I can see much better, but I am in the nursing program and a pretty fantastic student.” 

“Yeah, that’d be great!” Karen says with a smile. Claire reaches her hand out and Karen stares at it before realizing she’s holding the hand out of her. “Wow sorry I’m really tired,” Karen adds, placing her hand into the other’s.

Claire brings the hand up close to her face. She can see some - definitely enough that she can see there is something there. She squints, wishing her had a flashlight or her phone. She also wishes she had some tweezers because that would make it easier to take out whatever it is. 

A few minutes pass and the sun climbs all while Claire continues to hold Karen’s hand in hers. When it’s high enough that Claire can see decently, she tells Karen, “This may hurt. The lack of tools doesn’t help.” Karen nods, biting her lip.

It’s just a rock, small but sharp. Claire tries to pull it out but struggles to get a proper grip on it. She then uses her her pinky fingernail to kind scrap against it, pushing it out. And this works, the only downside being Karen is bleeding slightly. Claire isn’t sure if this is because of the rock or her crude methods, but the bleeding is slight and Karen is smiling at her so she doesn’t feel too bad.

“Sorry again. Is everything else all right? Are you sore anywhere else? Do you have any problems moving your fingers or your wrists or anything?”

“I don’t think so,” Karen responds. She then proceeds to wriggle her fingers flop her hands back and forth. “All seems to be good, minus being attacked by a stupid rock.”

“Give me your hand,” Foggy says. Karen gives him a weird look before giving her hand over. Foggy grabs hold and proceeds to kiss the back of her hand. “And now you’re all better! My kiss has healed your wound!” Foggy lets go of her hand, smile wide on his face.

“Um no? You didn’t? You kissed the back of my hand whereas the injury is on my palm. Not healed, Foggy. You’re not as magical as you think.”

“Well sorry, Karen. I didn’t really want to kiss your open wound and get blood on me and such. Not really my thing. My kisses are magical, though. How dare you say otherwise!” Foggy glares at Karen for a second before smiling.

“Okay not to be super awkward, but are you guys dating? Sorry I just can’t tell,” Claire questions, looking over at the two, slight grimace on her face. Foggy and Karen look at each other and burst out laughing.

“Me? Date Foggy? God no. No. I would never!” Karen replies.

“Wow rude much? What happened to you don’t know where you’d be without me? I thought we had something special, Karen Page! I thought you loved me!” Foggy calls out, covering his face in his hands and pretending to cry.

Karen looks over at Claire, rolling her eyes. “Sorry he’s so weird sometimes. Obviously I can’t take him anywhere - not even to watch the sunrise!” She sighs.

“Just because you’re a lesbian doesn’t mean you can’t date me, Karen!” Foggy calls out before proceeding to fake cry some more. 

“Yes? That’s literally what it means? Oh my god, Foggy, you are so dorky.” She reaches out and punches him lightly in the arm. She knows he’s just messing with her - it’s something she’s heard from boys before, though - ones who think if they’re nice enough to her she’ll suddenly want to get into their pants. But honestly, if Karen didn’t have any romantic or sexual attraction to Foggy, there was no way she was gonna have any for any other guy out there. 

“You’re a lesbian?” Claire asks. Karen looks over, her stomach sinking. She forgot Claire didn’t know. Now things were gonna be awkward - Claire wouldn’t want to be her friend and would probably completely act like she didn’t exist. Even girls who claim to “support the gays” only mean they support gay men and are okay with gay girls as long as they don’t come near them.

“Um yeah,” Karen replies.

“I’m bisexual!” Foggy adds. Karen smiles, knowing that he’s trying to put less pressure on Karen, spread the focus a little bit.

“That… that’s awesome!” Claire says. Karen is surprised. There are many things Karen imagines she could have said, but calling it awesome with the level of enthusiasm she did was not something she imagined. “Okay so this isn’t something I really ever talk about, and I especially don’t tell people I just met but since you both came out and stuff I thought I’d do the same and okay wow. Sorry. I am normally much better with more words than this.” Claire pauses, taking a deep breath, her eyes closed. “I’m asexual.” 

There’s nothing for a second. The sun is midway in the sky, oranges and blues blending together. It’s bright as Claire looks at the two, her hopes high, her heart open. 

Foggy is the first to speak. “Really? That’s so cool! I’ve only known one over asexual person and he was literally the worst person I’ve ever known. Not that it had anything to do with him being asexual. He was just a shitty person.” 

“Do you mean Jason? He wasn’t a shitty person, Foggy; he just really hated you.”

“Exactly! You’d have to be a shitty person to hate me!” Karen rolls her eyes, mutting “idiot” under her breath.

Claire smiles over at the two. She’s grateful that neither of them made a big deal about her “coming out.” She doesn’t want it to be a thing. Yes, it’s a part of her, but it doesn’t change who she is. She's only told a few other people and it's never exactly gone well. Most simply don't know what it is and then when she proceeds to tell them, they don't see how it can be a thing. 

Karen smiles over at Claire before looking back at the sky. The sun is bright, powerful, it's warmth spreading against her skin as she watches it. This is nice, she thinks. She tries not to dwell on Claire being asexual - she's not totally sure what it means. She's also only ever known Jason and he was super private about his life. Karen maybe remembers him mentioning a boyfriend before, but it could have been someone else. 

To Karen it really didn't matter what Claire was as long as she was accepting and that's what she seems to be. She didn't say anything negative against her or Foggy, instead turning to them and trusting them with a part of herself as well. And if Claire didn't like girls that was okay. This is nice, Karen thinks again. And it is. It's been awhile since Karen has had a girl friend that she felt close to. Not that her girlfriends weren't great, but her relationships tended to be more physical than personal or romantic. And at this point, that’s what Karen misses.

Karen leans her head against Foggy’s shoulder and does she best to enjoy the sky. Only - at this point, Karen is struggling to keep her eyes open (the brightness of the sun not helping as she stares it down). Karen really wishes she had tried harder to sleep - not that it would have much of a difference truly. 

“You ready for that coffee?” Foggy asks. This perks Karen up just enough to nod her head over and over again. “Did you want to join, Claire? It’s Karen’s treat.”

“I totally would, but I have an early morning class I can’t be late to. Rain check, though?” Foggy nods and Karen does as well (granted she hasn’t stopped since she had started before). 

“All right well let’s get you up, Karen. You obviously really need this coffee,” Foggy asks, reaching out and lifting her head off his shoulder. He pushes himself off the ground before turning around and pulling Karen up. He puts his arm around her and turns to Claire. “Your dorm close?”

“Yeah, not too far. I should probably run so I can at least pretend I got a proper jog in this morning.”

“Oh yeah okay. I was gonna offer we walk you over, but I don’t think Karen should do any running in her condition.”

Claire laughs. “Especially after that fall. I’m just glad all of her limbs seem to be working proper - even if she does seem to have a hard time having her head off your shoulder.”

“No need to worry about that. Her head is often on my shoulder, even on days when she doesn’t fall flat on her face.”

“Well, I am really glad she’s okay. I would hate to be at fault for anything too serious.” Claire smiles and Karen, eyes still closed, smiles at the words. “Anyway, I’ll see you guys later. Well, probably tomorrow in class at least.”

“See you!” Foggy calls and Karen waves. Once Claire is out of earshot, Foggy turns his head to face Karen as much as possible. “You are soooooooooooo in love with her, aren’t you?” Karen opens her mouth to protest because of course she’s not in love with this girl she barely knows. Not even close, honestly. Not close. But knowing Foggy will just keep pushing it no matter what she says, Karen just nods, knowing it probably won’t be too long before she is.

 

Karen’s heart beats fast as she stands outside of the room. She’s been dreading this class all day. In theory, it shouldn’t be too hard. The class itself will be nothing compared to her international accounting class from the last semester. It’s not the class that’s the problem. 

Taking a deep breath, Karen looks inside the room. It’s about half full. She looks at each person. Lindy catches her eye and smiles, waving at her. Karen waves back. It seems like she’s in the clear. Karen will go in, sit next to Lindy, they’ll chat about their winter break or if they did the homework assignment and everything will be fine.

As she’s about to step inside, Karen feels a hand on her shoulder. She turns and finds Kirsten standing behind her, smiling. Lovely. Exactly what Karen was dreading. Her smile is wide and inviting and Karen feels weak.

“Isn’t it so great that we have this class together, Karen?” Not trusting her voice, Karen nods. Kirsten’s hand slides down Karen’s arm until she’s holding onto her wrist. “Let’s go sit down!” She then proceeds to pull the other behind her. They sit in the front row, Kirsten on Karen’s left.

“We didn’t get to talk much last time you kind of rushed off as soon as class ended, yelling something about Foggy needing paint.”

“Oh yeah you know how Foggy is when it comes to paint,” Karen says. Of course Foggy didn’t need paint; there was no Foggy or paint involved Karen just needed to get out of there as fast as she could.

“Really? I didn’t think he did much painting. I thought it was more into drawing. I mean every time we hung out either him or his clothes were covered in charcoal.” 

“Honestly I don’t know if he has any clothes that aren’t covered in charcoal.”

“I guess it’s a good sign of his commitment, though. I’m glad there’s no real mark on me from studying the LSAT too hard.”

“Sure there is. Your forehead says “huge nerd” across it.” Karen laughs at her own joke and Kirsten shakes her head but she smiles as she does. Kirsten opens her mouth to reply but is cut off by the professor asking if anyone had questions about their assignment.

Karen is grateful as she turns her attention away from Kirsten and down to her assignment. Talking to Kirsten is too easy. It’s too easy to slip into it and Karen knows that it won’t be long before she’s so hung up on Kirsten again and that’s something that can’t happen. When Kirsten messaged her over the break and suggested they try to be friends, Karen thought it was something she could do. But now, faced with the reality of friendship, it’s not something she thinks she can do.

The class flows along well. The topic is interesting enough. Tax law is something Karen has no personal interest in (Karen personally is so excited to get her CPA) but she can see the appeal. She knows it’s what Kirsten is thinking about going into. There’s good money there, too, more likely more than Karen could make as public accountant. But the law holds no interest for Karen.

Karen used to make fun of Kirsten for wanting to combine two of the most boring topics out there - law and accounting. “You won’t be laughing when I’m making bank, and we’re living in a mansion with a swimming pool full of hundred dollar bills,” Kirsten pointed out one day.

“We’re living in a mansion?” Karen questioned, her voice cracking.

Kirsten’s face dropped for a second before, composed, she said, “Well someone is going to have to support your sorry ass.” She smiled. 

Karen remembers this and feels a lump in her throat growing. The thought of her and Kirsten living together, mansion or not, is still inviting, beautiful, something Karen hates to admit she wants so badly. It’s been three months and Karen is still in love with Kirsten McDuffie. Awesome.

And honestly, that’s not something Karen can deal with. Not now - not ever being the prefered option. The friendship thing won’t work. At least not while Karen is still feeling as deeply as she is about Kirsten. It’d be one thing if it seemed like Kirsten feels the same, that she’s as struggling just as Karen is, but Kirsten is just as light as ever, just as free. And Karen wants to be happy for her - and granted, parts of her are - but more than anything she just wants Kirsten to suffer over Karen, even just a little bit.

It’s towards the end of the class that Karen pulls out her phone and texts Kirsten, asking if they can talk after class. The reply is instantaneous, a yes with a smile emoji. Karen just needs to ask for space. She’s not ready for the friend thing. Sure, it’ll be good in a few months - great, even, because Kirsten is a lovely person and Karen can see them being close friends. But for the time being it’s too much.

Class ends and Karen realizes she didn’t understand any of the lesson. Her mind was far off (or, more specifically, in the seat right next to her). She gathers her stuff, Kirsten waiting on her, and the two then make their way outside. It’s not too cold outside so Karen leads them out to an open area, checking to make sure no one is too close around them.

Kirsten’s been talking as they walk, but none of what she’s said has really crossed Karen’s mind. In one ear out the other sort of thing. She’s still talking when they stop by a large tree and Karen does her best at this point to actually hear what’s being said.

“And so I was thinking we should start with one of the books that Professor Edgar mentioned in class. It’d probably be the best starting point.”

“Starting point?” Karen asks, completely lost.

“For the project? Did you not pay any attention in class? We’re supposed to do a research paper together. C’mon Karen!” Kirsten reaches out and lightly hits the other on her forehead. Kirsten continues on, talking more about the paper Karen hadn’t realized existed until this moment. 

Kirsten doesn’t really give Karen any chance to give input, which is fine considering she has no idea what she would say. What she hadn’t wanted to won’t really fly anymore. She can’t really ask to stop being friends while still having to work on a research paper with her all semester long. 

“Did you want to get started on it now or does Foggy have another paint emergency?” Kirsten asks a few minutes later.

“Um,” Karen says. “No paint emergency but I have lots of other homework so I think I should just head off and do that now. I will see you in class on Friday.” Karen waves and walks off as fast as she can manage. 

“See you later!” Kirsten calls out. Her voice is soft and caring and Karen curses herself and curses Kirsten and curses the world for letting there be someone as good as Kirsten, as caring as Kirsten, as wonderful as Kirsten and not letting her be Karen’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to [Misha](http://sapphicnat.tumblr.com/) for all the help once again. Come talk to me on [tumblr](http://bpdkuryakin.tumblr.com/).
> 
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> (((If you follow me on tumblr you probably already know, but I am very mentally ill and the past few months have been extremely bad for me. Which, of course, meant that I barely had the strength or desire to do things I loved like writing. Me updating this is kind of a huge deal because, I think, it's a sign I'm starting to get a little better. I will do my best to have the next chapter up within weeks instead of months.))))


	3. #5b3d1c

Foggy sighs as he steps out of the room and into the hallway. Meeting with his faculty advisor had done nothing to help soothe his anxiety. There was still no real answer out there for what Foggy was to do when he finished his schooling. Foggy knows that if he wants to simply make and sell his art, he needs to improve his painting skills. There aren’t many people out there who want to buy charcoal drawings. At least, not at the high price tag that people will pay for the same subject done in oils or acrylics. 

The issue being this: Foggy has never been great at colours. He’s not bad per se, his paintings look all right. But only all right. He struggles with adding depth with colour; he struggles being creative, adding just the right amount of contrasting colours to bring the image to life. 

There isn’t time for Foggy to worry about it, though. He has his English class in twenty minutes, the building on the other side of campus. As he walks, he tries to focus his mind on the reading he was supposed to do over the weekend. He and Karen had met up and Karen helped him map out the most important parts of the essay, the things he really should remember. But now, he can’t recall a single one.

His head drops and his breathing sharpens. Normally Foggy’s brain is sharp, grabbing hold of information and holding tightly to it. But there are times when his mind seems to shut off. Namely when he’s stressed and his anxiety is particularly high. As he walks to class, Foggy takes deep breathes and tells himself he’ll be fine. It helps some, his heart slowing to a more reasonable rate. He’s grateful to have avoided a full blown panic attack. 

He’s almost to his class when Foggy spots Matt and Kirsten. The two are standing close, Matt’s left hand holding onto Kirsten’s arm as she leads him, his cane slack in his other hand. Kirsten notices Foggy and waves, calling out his name. He waves back and changes his path slightly so he’s soon standing next to them.

“Franklin Nelson, it has been far too long!” Kirsten lightly pulls her arm away from Matt and leans in, hugging Foggy tightly. She’s always been a good hugger and Foggy can’t help but smile. “I haven’t seen you since…”

“Since you and Karen broke up last semester,” Foggy finishes for her. “She was the only reason we were friends.”

“Well that’s gonna change! Karen and I are trying to be friends, too. So that means all three of us can still be friends, okay?” She takes a breath and smiles, her voice small as she says, “I’d be really sad to lose you both.”

Foggy doesn’t know what to say and simply nods. “Have you two met?” Kirsten says a second later. “Sorry I should have done introductions first.”

“It’s okay,” Foggy says.

“We’ve met,” Matt adds. 

“He’s actually taking one of the art classes I’m TAing for.”

“Art?” Kirsten almost screams, her eyes wide as she looks at Matt. “That’s so cool!” She turns to Foggy and says in a low voice, “Is he any good?”

“Better than Karen,” Foggy answers truthfully.

“That’s not saying much, though.”

“True.” Foggy looks down, checking the time on his phone. He has five minutes before class and it’s still about two minutes away. “I should have realized you two were friends.”

“Friends might not be the right word,” Matt comments. “I basically had to beg her to get her to help me study. A friend wouldn’t need that much convincing.”

“Oh that’s cold, Murdock. That’s cold. Maybe I won’t even help you then. Better yet, I’ll teach you all the wrong ways to do it so I’ll get a better LSAT score than you.”

“Cheating’s the only way you’ll do better than me, so go ahead and try.”

“Rude!” Kirsten scoffs, lightly hitting Matt on the arm. She turns to Foggy and says, “We better get studying. He really does need me, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.” She smiles.

“Yeah, I have class to get to. I’ll see you two around. Good luck studying.”

“Thanks!” Kirsten replies.

“See you tomorrow,” Matt says as they walk off towards the library. He smiles and Foggy can’t help but smile back, his heart racing just a bit. He nods in response, pulling his phone out at he rushes down the hallway. He barely makes it to class, slipping into the back right as the professor begins to speak. 

 

Foggy isn’t at all surprised to find Karen asleep in his bed when he arrives back at his dorm. He does his best to be as quiet as possible as he gathers up the supplies he needs for his next class. He’s pretty quiet and yet Karen stirs at the slight sound. “Foggy,” she mutters, her face against his pillow.

“Sorry!” he says, turning and facing her. “I’m really not good at the whole stealth thing.”

“It’s okay. I was already awake.” Foggy isn’t sure if she’s lying or not, but he takes her at her word, nodding. “You have another class?”

“Yeah, in a couple hours. I was gonna hit the studio before. It’s my advanced painting class and I need as much practice as I can get.”

“I get that,” Karen replies, her voice still muffled by the pillow under her. She turns over and sits up. “I have my class with Kirsten in a bit. I’m not excited.”

“Oh, I just ran into her actually. She said you two were trying the friend thing.”

Karen’s head drops and she sighs. “We are?” she says, shrugging. “She wants to and you know me. I can’t say no to her.”

“You think it’s a good idea?” Foggy sits down next to Karen on his bed. “I know how hard the breakup was. You think you can do the friend thing?”

“No,” Karen replies, voice small. “Maybe she’ll fall back in love with me, though. And if not I’ll get over it. I’ll get over her. It’s no big deal.” It is a big deal. They both know it, but neither says it. Foggy reaches over and places his hand on Karen’s, giving it a light squeeze.

“It’ll be okay. The only real friend you need is me, anyway, so who cares what happens with the two of you.”

“Wow thanks, Foggy!” Karen replies, laughing. “So glad my feelings matter so much to you.”

“It’s all part of the Foggy Nelson experience.” He leans over and kisses Karen’s forehead. “You know I love you and I’m here for you no matter what happens.” Karen nods, a small smile forming.

Foggy stands up and grabs his supplies once more. “What are you going to paint?” Karen asks.

Shrugging, Foggy says, “No idea. I’m hoping inspiration will just strike or something.”

“You can always paint me,” Karen suggests, smiling wide.

Foggy scoffs. “I’ve painted you three times and there’s literally a sketchbook that’s nothing but your face. I think there’s enough of you already.”

“Wow sorry it’s not my fault you’re in love with me!”

“Then whose fault is it?” Foggy counters.

“Huh,” Karen replies, shrugging her shoulders. “God’s? I don’t know.”

“Curse you, God!” Foggy says, waving his fist in the air. Karen laughs. “I’ll see you later. I’ll make dinner tonight.”

“Ooooh, nice!” Karen replies, lying back down on the bed. “See you then!” she calls, her back to Foggy.

“See you,” he responds, closing the door behind him. He makes his way across campus over to the art building. He knows there isn’t a class before his, so he slips into the classroom and sets up. 

Everything settled, Foggy pulls his favourite pencil out and stares at the canvas. He likes to start sketching first, getting some kind of idea of where he’s going before he gets paints involved. 

He presses the pencil against the canvas, willing it to magically start. It doesn’t. Foggy stares and stares but nothing comes. He thinks about giving in and just painting Karen again. She’s beautiful and his paintings of her were some of his best. He knows he needs more variety, though. Currently, his paintings consist of a few portraits of Karen and landscapes. There are few outliers, an assignment to paint of bowl of fruit, another of the moon. 

Foggy lifts his pencil and stands. He walks around the room a few times. When he sits down, he tells himself to just start. Anywhere. Anything. No planning. Just go. And he does. He draws one line and then another and another. He’s not fully conscious of what it he’s doing. Not at first, not until it starts to be formed and Foggy recognizes the lines, the shape. 

Realizing what it is, he laughs. He’s still laughing about it when Glori steps inside. “What’s so funny?” she asks as she walks over to Foggy. He shakes his head, unsure of how to answer. 

“It’s nothing really,” he states.

“That looks awesome, Foggy!” Glori says as stands behind him, peering over his shoulder. “I can’t wait to see what it’s like when it’s painted.” 

“Thanks, Glori,” Foggy responds with a smile. Glori nods and walks over to the other side, grabbing her own easel. She sets up next to Foggy and proceeds to grab the rest of her supplies.

“You’re so talented at this, Foggy. I don’t even know why I’m taking this class. I like painting, but I’m a photographer!” She sighs, waving her hands in the air before sitting down. “I am not good at painting, Foggy. Not even close.”

“That’s not true. I’ve seen some of your stuff. You do a great job. Everything looks so intense and vivid and--”

“-And messy and scattered, I know, I know,” she finishes for him with a smile. “Thank you, though. I really do enjoy it. It’s pretty therapeutic, you know?”

Foggy nods. “It really is.” The rest of the class starts to filter in at this point, grabbing their easels and supplies, setting up around the classroom. Their assignment currently is to just paint something. No instructions, no boundaries. Most everyone just starts on their own, a few people holding off, needing to talk to the professor. Foggy notices Glori put headphones in, her phone out as she finds something to listen to.

He watches her as she starts. At this point, he can’t tell what she’s painting, only that there’s blue. Lots of blue. Various shades, blending together. It could be the sky, he thinks. Or the sea. Or a blue monster for all he knows. He’s captivated by it, though. She seems to have no trouble with colours, something he’s jealous of.

Shaking his head, Foggy turns his attention back to his own. He’s hesitant to start painting. He wants to keep drawing, giving it more depth, adding shading, focusing on just drawing it. He doesn’t want to ruin it. He has no choice, though, but to paint it. He draws a bit more, perfecting a few lines and changing the shape of parts of it.

Finished, he stands up and walks back some, as far as he can and still make out the image. It looks nice. Solid. At this point, the professor is making his way around the class, looking at everyone’s progression, answering questions, giving critique. Foggy holds off doing anything else, his anxiety rising as the professor makes his way closer and closer to him. 

When she reaches him, Foggy is silent as she leans in, looking at Foggy’s sketch. “Really good start, Franklin,” she says. “You ready to start painting?” 

Foggy knows the answer should be ‘yes.’ He has nothing else to do but paint, but he also knows it would be a lie to say he was ready. “Just nervous to start.” The professor nods. 

“It’s okay. Just start looking at the colours. Start getting a feel for what you want. What you think will look best. Trust yourself. I know you say colours are your weak point, but you’re better at them than you think. You just need to relax. You can do it.” She smiles down at Foggy who nods. 

She moves onto Glori next and Foggy listens as the two talk, not paying attention to the words, but letting his mind relax, focusing on something other than what he’s worried about. When the professor moves to the next person, Foggy turns his attention back to drawing.

He stands up, making his way to the back of the room where all the paints are. He has some idea of what he needs - lots of brown, black, some orange or gold or similar, white. Green? Maybe. He can’t remember for sure. 

Foggy starts with brown. He adds black and white as well to mix with the brown to create more shades. He makes his way back to his seat and starts. He uses a small brush, his strokes light, small, short as he starts out. 

The class continues like this, small lines on the large canvas. There isn’t much done by the time class is over, but Foggy is happy with it so far. It’s a good start, he tells himself, hoping that it will just get better as he continues.

Foggy leaves class a few minutes later, pulling out his phone and finding five messages from Karen. 

One: “Here’s a picture of me you can paint.”

Two: [Said picture; Karen with her tongue sticking out, giving a peace sign.]

Three: Kirsten wants to meet up before class and work on our project. I don’t want toooo.

Four: Foggy. She’s wearing a crop top. Is she trying to kill me? Why is she doing this to me. I can’t take it. I can’t!

Five: How is her voice so smooth? It’s so silky and wow I’m so fucking in love god help me pls.

Another message from Karen arrives while Foggy is reading the others. This one reads, “If I can’t pay attention in class now it’s Kirsten and her stupid crop top’s fault. If I fail out of school, I 100% blame her.”

Foggy doesn’t know whether to smile or to frown. Karen’s tone is joking, but Foggy knows there’s truth to it. He knows how hard this friendship and working alongside Kirsten is for her and he’s sad she has to go through it.

He forms a small reply to Karen, telling her she’s not gonna fail out and that she’s gonna be okay. He reminders her he loves and then the ends it, asking her what she wants him to make for dinner. Karen responds quickly with, “Pasta :)”. 

It’s a short walk for Foggy as he goes two classrooms down to the other class he’s a teacher’s assistant for. It’s the mid level figure drawing class. There isn’t much for him to do at this point. The professor leads the class and answers most questions as they draw. Foggy’s there, though, if anyone needs him. No one does.

Foggy’s mind slips back to his painting. He wishes he was still in there, still working on it, bringing it to life. He smile as he thinks this - for someone who doesn’t like painting, he sure wants to paint. This is good, though. Very good, albeit a little weird to be painting a picture of Matt Murdock’s eyes.

 

The kitchen in Foggy’s dorm is small. There’s enough room for about one person to cook at a time - two if they’re small enough. Karen stands just outside as Foggy finishes off their dinner. He doesn’t cook too often and when he does, it’s always special. He’s a great cook and an even better baker. He loves cooking and wishes he had enough time each time to dedicate towards it.

Karen cooks some for them, too. She’s not bad. There are a few recipes that she falls back on and tends to always do. She can bake bread, but that’s about it. Sweets never turn out well. That gift definitely went to her sister, which she is fine with. Her sister is spectacular and Karen likes to watch her bake, always in awe.

She’s in awe right now, too, as she watches Foggy finish off, placing the food on two plates. It’s exciting. They rarely eat this well. Poor college students rarely have enough money for homemade chicken alfredo, with freshly made sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Karen knows the two of them will have to eat Ramen for a few extra days to make up for the expense, but it’s worth it.

Foggy hands Karen her plate and the two make it back to his room. Mark’s in there and Foggy lets him know there’s some pasta left for him if he wants. “Thanks,” he responds and heads out to get some.

They sit down on Foggy’s bed, legs crossed as they face each other. “I said it before, but I am indeed glad to see that Kirsten didn’t actually cause your death,” Foggy tells Karen before taking his first bite.

Karen, who’s already five bites in and currently chewing, nods. “It was a close call. My heart stopped for awhile there. Thought I was completely losing my mind for a minute, too. You need to help me, Foggy.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know. Find a girl for me?” Karen smiles up sweetly.

“You and Kirsten are like the only girls I know.”

“That’s a total lie and you know it. There must be some girls in your classes that you talk to.”

“Well, yeah, but I can’t very well go up to each of them and say, ‘Hello, are you into girls? Would you like to date my best friend? She’s a handful but really pretty, too.’”

“Why not? That sounds pretty good to me.”

“Then why don’t you do it yourself? You know other lesbians, too, it’s not like you don’t have other options.”

“Yeah I just… I don’t want to date anyone I’ve already dated and, like, a lot of the lesbians I know are older and I don’t know, Foggy. I’m picky.”

“So why do you think it would be a good idea for me to just pick out some random girl for you?”

“I trust you,” she replies. Foggy smiles, the words nice to hear.

“Of course you do. I have amazing taste. You totally would have dated my last girlfriend if you could.”

“True,” Karen says with a sigh. “Oh!” she interjects a moment later. “I forgot to mention there’s a Q Crew meeting later if you want to come. It’s always fun meeting new people and everything.”

“You have Q Crew tonight and you’re asking me to find you a girlfriend. You’ll probably come home tonight and tell me all about the new freshman girl you’re in love with.”

“Yeah and that worked out so well last time.” Karen’s voice is sharp but small. “I don’t want to be someone’s experiment again.” She sighs. “Maybe I should just not date anyone for awhile, honestly.”

“That may be a good idea. Another good idea would be to tell Kirsten you can’t be friends with her right now and ask to get another partner for your project while you still can.”

Karen shakes her head. “It’s too late to ask for a new partner, and I wouldn’t want to change anyway; we’ve gotten a lot done so far. Maybe when we finish it, I’ll talk to Kirsten about the friend thing.”  
“All right,” Foggy agrees, knowing there’s no point in arguing with Karen about this. “What time’s the Q Crew at? And, for the record, I still can’t believe you guys call it that.”

“Well, it does have the official LGBTQ whatever it is name. Q Crew is just more fun. I don’t think anyone outside of, like, the school itself calls it it’s real name. I honestly can’t even think of it.”

“That’s pretty sad considering you’re the secretary.”

“It totally is, isn’t it? Oh well. Probably not gonna change anytime soon.” Karen proceeds to get up and take Foggy’s plate from him. “I’ll clean up.”

“Wow, you are a saint,” Foggy responds. 

“Aren’t I?” The two leave and walk back out into the kitchen area. Mark’s been there, eating from the pan Foggy cooked in. He smiles up at the two as they walk in.

“Really good,” Mark tells him as he takes another bite, giving a thumbs up. Foggy responds with a thank you. There’s not enough room for the three of them, so Foggy stands out in the hallway as Karen cleans. Mark finishes soon and hands the dish off to Karen before rushing off somewhere.

“It’s at Eight, by the way,” Karen says. “Sorry I forgot to answer that before. Does that mean you want to come?”

“Eh,” Foggy says, shrugging his shoulders. He’s gone to these meetings before and they’re okay. When they do activities they’re not too bad, but when it’s more of them just sitting around, talking, it’s hard for Foggy. He never feels like he fits in enough - that he has anything to say. 

Which is a good thing in a lot of ways. When they talk about how hard it is to come out, Foggy can’t relate. It wasn’t hard for him. Him being bisexual slipped out one day in a conversation with his parents and they didn’t say anything about it then. Later his mother wrote him a letter saying she loved him no matter what. 

As for coming out to friends, there wasn’t much issue there either. Half of them didn’t really know because it normally wasn’t something he just brought up in conversation. Not that he’s hesitant to tell anyone that he knows but what difference does it make to some guy he only knows because they share a class together. Most everyone else he’s close with isn’t straight themselves so that makes it easier, too.

Foggy looks over and sees Karen staring at him, begging him with her eyes to come. It’s important to her for some reason. Maybe because she’s in the presidency, maybe because she wants Foggy to meet more people and expand his friendship group to more than just Karen most of the time. For whatever reason, Foggy can tell it’s important to her.

“I’ll go since you were good enough to clean up,” he tells her. Karen smile’s wide.

“Awesome! There’s actually someone I really want you to meet!”

“Oh so that’s why you wanted me to come? Trying to hook me up with someone? You could have just said so, Karen.”

“It’s not like that! I mean. It could be. I just think you’d like him. As a friend or whatever you want.”

“Okay now I’m interested. You have to tell me more.”

Karen smiles and shakes her head. “Nope. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Can I get a name at least?”

“Fine. Just a first name. I don’t want you to try and google him or find him on facebook or whatever.”

“You know me too well,” Foggy concedes, having just pulled out his phone for that very reason. Karen beams. “So. What’s his name?”

“Oh right, yeah. Peter.”

“Peter? Sounds boring. Maybe if I knew a last name I’d be more interested…”

“Oh stop it. You’re gonna meet him in, like, ten minutes. You can wait.”

“You know patience is not my strong suit.”

“Do you even have a strong suit?” Karen rebuttals. 

“Hey! There’s a lot of things I’m good at.”

“Sure, sure, if you say so.”

“You’re the worst,” Foggy says. 

“I know,” Karen replies, drying off the last dish. “Shall we head out?” Foggy nods. It’s not a far away and they get there just a bit before eight. Karen excuses herself to go talk to the other members of the presidency.

Foggy looks around to see if he knows anyone. He recognizes some people, but very few he can put names to. He does notice Trish Walker is here. She’s currently talking to Karen so Foggy assumes she must be in the presidency, too. Probably president. Which wouldn’t be surprising. Who wouldn’t want a television star to rule over them?

“Hey guys, we’re gonna get started in just a minute if you wanna take a seat,” Karen announces right as Claire walks through the door. Foggy smiles and walks over to her. He looks back at Karen to see if she sees and nods in Claire’s direction, winking. 

“Claire, it’s so awesome to see you!” Foggy tells her with a smile when he reaches her. Claire smiles back, small.

“Thanks. Stuff like this isn’t normally my scene but I thought I’d give it a go.”

“It’s not my scene either,” Foggy replies. “Karen really wanted me to come, though, so here I am.”

“How long have you two known each other?” Claire asks as Foggy leads them to two seats right over by where Karen is standing. 

“We met our first semester, so three years, I guess?”

“That’s cool. I barely talk to anyone I knew my first semester here. I rarely have those really long last relationships in general, though, so that’s not surprising.”

“Well I have a really hard time letting people go so you’re gonna be stuck with me for years. You’ll wanna prepare for that.”

“Why? Is there something bad about being friends with you?”

“Huh. I don’t know. You should ask Karen that. She’ll probably tell you every negative thing there is to know about me and how I am as a friend. I mean, in my opinion I’m a great friend, the best you could ask for, really.”

“Well I hope you are,” Claire says right as Trish starts to speak.

“Hey everyone. I’m Trish Walker. I’ll be your president this year.” Foggy smiles to himself; just as he guessed. “I’ve never really been good at talking about myself. I like angry metal music, writing about things that are important to me, and I especially like my girlfriend, Jessica.” 

Her voice is strong and soothing and Foggy loves listening to her speak. It’s just so clear. It’s no wonder she’s as well known as she is (although Foggy admits he’s never seen her show).

“I’ll let the rest of the presidency introduce themselves and then we’ll go around and everyone else can as well. You can say whatever you want, however much you want. Or say nothing at all. We’re all open and loving and accepting of everyone no matter what so. Clark, if you wanna go.”

Clark nods and stands up. Foggy’s seen him around but they’ve never talked. His hands shake as he speaks, his voice a little higher than expected. “Hey I’m Clark. I’m your vice president. I’m trans and demisexual. He/him pronouns, please. I’m really interested in space and I really love rollercoasters.” Clark smiles and nods at Karen as he sits down.

Karen gets up and smiles wide out at everyone. Foggy beams back, giving her thumbs up with both hands. “Um hey guys. I’m Karen. I’m an accounting major because I really love math but I hate math classes. I’m a lesbian and I’m really into magic.” Karen smiles and sits down.

Trish motions at the person sitting to Foggy’s left to start. Foggy doesn’t hear what they say at all. He’s too busy thinking about what to say himself. He’s not a big fan of speaking in front of more than five people - especially if the topic is himself. The person sits down a few moments later and Foggy finds himself standing up.

He looks at Karen first, who smiles and gives him thumbs up with both hands. Foggy smiles and takes a deep breath. “I’m Foggy Nelson. I’m bisexual. Any pronouns are cool with me and I like cake.”

Karen grins at him as he sits down. Claire stands up next. “Hi I’m Claire Temple. I’m studying to become a nurse. I’m asexual and trying to figure out everything else, like romantic orientation and even gender’s a little… I don’t know. Um. Thanks.” 

Once she sits down, Foggy turns to her and says, “I totally get you about the gender stuff. It’s so... confusing I guess is a word for it.”

Claire nods. “It’s nice to know I’m not the only one.” She turns her attention back to the next person talking and Foggy does the same. Everyone stands and speaks, most people just saying their name and sexual orientation. A few people include their pronouns and one other person says they’re trans. 

The last person to stand looks like he’s maybe eighteen, a wide smile on his face as he stands. His hair's a mess and he proceeds to mess with it before he starts to speak. “Hey I’m Peter Parker. I’m studying biomedical engineering, I love photography, and I, uh, ‘swing both ways’ as they say. Thanks.” He waves before sitting down.

Foggy looks over at Karen and mouths, “He looks like he’s twelve.”

She mouths back, “He’s twenty. And into art! And he’s bisexual!”

Foggy sighs, shrugging his shoulders. Trish stands up and thanks everyone for sharing. “It was great to get to know each of you a little better and I’m excited to learn more about you all as the year continues on. Karen’s handing out the current schedule of events for the semester. We don’t have anything more planned tonight since it’s a Monday and no doubt you all already have far too much homework to work on. There’s pizza and cookies and of course everyone’s welcome to hang around and chat. Thanks so much for coming out!” Trish finishes, clapping her hands together in front of her. She beams as everyone stands up and makes their way over to the food.

Foggy waits for Karen to come over and join him. She places her head on his shoulder and the two, accompanied by Claire, follow the rest of the crowd. 

“It’s so nice to see you here, Claire. I don’t remember you ever coming before,” Karen comments.

“I came once, like, two years ago. It was some dance thing and not something I was into. But I thought I’d try again. It’s my last year so - might as well, right?”

“Totally. We have a lot of fun stuff planned so I really hope to see you come more. I really love seeing you.”

“I like seeing you, too,” Claire replies. “You too, Foggy,” she adds. They each grab a slice of pizza and back over to the chairs and sit down.

“Trish is so nice,” Foggy notes, turning to Karen. “I’m honestly a little surprised.”

“Right?” Karen replies. “The first time I met her she hugged me and said, ‘More lesbians, how great!’ It was really cute. She’s really wonderful. I’m excited that she’s president.”

“You ever meet her before?” Foggy asks Claire.

Claire, who just took a bite of her pizza, shakes her head. “She seems great,” she adds a moment later.

“I’m gonna get myself more pizza,” Foggy says, standing up. He knows Karen would never ask, but she’s dying to have even just a little bit of alone time with Claire. He watches the conversation continue as he leaves and he smiles. He loves to see the smile that spreads across Karen’s face as Claire talks.

He grabs himself more food and stands off at the side as he eats. He’s not standing there for very long when he hears, “It’s Foggy, right?” coming from his left side.

Foggy turns his head and sees Peter Parker standing next to him, eating a cookie. He has a smile on his face and his hair seems to have become even more messy than before.

“Yeah. Peter Parker?” Peter nods.

“You’re Karen’s friend, right? The artist?” he asks.

“The artist? Is that how she describes me to other people? Huh. I mean, I guess it’s true. I would have thought she’d describe me as her absolute best friend she loves more than the world, but ‘the artist’ works too.”

Peter chuckles. “She did say more about you, I just thought ‘the artist’ might be a little simpler than the long list of qualities that Karen went off about you having.”

“Did she tell you I was loud? I swear I’m not that loud,” Foggy replies. (His voice is a bit louder than a normal conversation tone, but it always is.)

“No,” Peter replies with a laugh. “She said a bunch of good stuff. You’re funny. A good friend. She did talk a lot about how talented you are and how good your art is. I’d love to see something sometime.”

“I should warn you she’s biased because I tend to draw her a lot.”

“I’m sure she’s not that biased. I’m sure you’re amazing.” His voice is so soft and sweet and sincere. Foggy looks down, unable to stop the blush that’s spreading across his face.

Foggy clears his throat and says, looking back up, “I’m sure you’re a great photographer as well.”

“Thanks! It’s mostly just a hobby for me, but I really enjoy it.”

“I’m surprised you’re not one of those people who takes their camera everywhere with them,” Foggy notes.

“Oh no, I totally am. I don’t take it with me to the lab because chemicals, and I don’t want to accidently pour acid on it (which is 100% something I would do). I rushed here from there, hence no camera. Pretty much any other time you’ll see me with it.”

“That makes me feel a little bit better,” Foggy says, pulling a sketch book out from his back pocket. “I almost never go anywhere without a sketchbook of some sort. When I do, I often end up with drawings on my arm - or sometimes Karen’s, if she’s with me.”

“That’s really cool. It’s awesome how dedicated you are.” Foggy smiles, his cheeks turning red once more. He’s not used to cute boys giving him compliments. 

“You too,” Foggy replies. “And doing bio-whatever-it-was is pretty cool, too.”

“Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” Foggy takes another bite of his pizza, unsure of what else to say in response. 

“I was thinking,” Peter starts, his eyes looking down as he speaks. He starts to mess with his hair again before he continues. “Maybe we could get together sometime. Talk about art or something. You could show me some of your stuff.”

Foggy’s first thought is a big ‘yes, of course,’ which is quickly followed by thoughts of Matt Murdock. Thoughts that have no place of being there. Because him and Matt aren’t dating and no, spending time with Peter wouldn’t be some weird betrayal of Matt in any form. 

He still feels like it would be. And Foggy gets it. He has a crush on Matt Murdock. He knows that. But that doesn’t make a difference now, not here, not in this moment. He’s allowed to spend time with other people, even if the other people are other cute people that maybe he could like at some point.

“That would be great,” Foggy says, his voice smaller than it normally is. He smiles to make up for it, hoping that he’s conveying how excited he is about this. Because he is. He is, even if his stomach is sunk and his head spinning just a little. 

Peter smiles back and they proceed to make plans for when to meet up, exchanging numbers, and chatting more about art. It’s relaxed and calm and by the end of their conversation, Foggy feels nothing but good feelings, all head spinning gone, his stomach back in it’s proper place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so. There will be more Matt next chapter I felt so bad because there was so little of him here. But I am so! Psyched about writing this again, honestly. Between season two and (re)reading a lot of the comics has gotten me so hardcore back into this. I should be updating every other week or so. Come talk to me on [tumblr](http://bifoggynelson.tumblr.com/) (especially about season two and how great Foggy was).


End file.
